Closure for vacuum insulated vessels



| J. DARMSTADT 2,944,690

CLOSURE FOR VACUUM INSULATED VESSEL-S July 12, 1960 Filed Oct. 27, 1955INVENTOR Louis J. Dcrmstodf BY M M WM L Q ATTORNEYS up within thefiller.

U ited St tes; 73

YcLosUnE roR yAcUUMiNsULfinD vEssEps:

Louis J.v Darmstadt, Norwich, Count; assignor to The American ThermosProducts Company, a corporation f-0hi0 i 3 Filed Oct. a7,;19s s, ser.No.543,137

3 Claims, or 2151-48) This invention relates to closures for open mouthsor'necks of containers andiparticularly to tclosures for containersincluding vacuum'insulated bottles or flasks retain the "latter properlyin position around filler 11. As pointed out in my aforementionedapplication, the pouring lip also acts to resiliently position and imitythereto.

commonlycalled fillers. More'especially, the invention 7 more, it hasbeen refinements deformation is Is'om'etimes permanent-which precludesthe closure from any subsequent effective sealing.

In accordance with this inventiomil have overcome this problem byproviding the closure with a reinforcing section that will preventsubstantial deformation of the stopper portion thereof as a result ofthe pressure built While .my invention contemplates the provision ofthis reinforcing section on either the stopper portion of the closure'orthe cover insert there'- containerin which hotfliquids or other 1maintain theupper end of filler 11 properly within the casing Myimproved closure as illustrated in Fig.' 1' comprises a. stopperindicated by the reference numeral 14and acover insert 15 therefor.Stopper 14 comprises a hollow stopper portion 16 and an outwardlyextending flange 17 forming therewith -a unitary structure.

closure may be formed of any resilientmaterial such. as rubber or thelike though I have found polyethylene to be a particularlysuitable'material therefor.

The

The flange 17 of stopper 14 also includes a downwardly extending portion18 adapted to surroundthe upper portion of pouring'lip in fairly closeprox-' a 1 This assists in properly positioning the stopper on thefiller neckwith the stopper portion 16 thereof entering its mouth andengaging the uppenrim portion of the inner wall of filler 11.

Insert is adapted to span the upper open end of 1 stopper portion 16 ofstopper 14 and is adapted to be nonremovably (in norm'aluse) maintainedthereacross.

. by having an outwardly projecting head 20 around its for, the formerconstruction has a slight added advantage in that the reinforcingsection tends torigidize wthe portion thereof which enters the mouth ofthe filler and Y is directly subject to the pressure therein as well asto the stored material when the container-is in other than verticalposition; l f

In the accompanying drawings in which I have illustrated two forms of myinvention: I V Fig. l is an elevation partly in section showing theupper portion of a vacuum insulated container with my improved closureinserted in the mouth 'thereo the aforementioned reinforcing sectionbeing in this form integral with the stopper portion of the closure;

Fig. 2 isa'vertical cross-section of a modified form of my improvedclosure in which the reinforcing section is integral with the coverinsert member thereof; and

Fig. 3. is a fragmentary vertical section showing a stopper of thisinvention adapted forfsnap on positioning. I I; v The vacuuminsulated-bottle or container of Figrl is much the same as thatdisclosed .in my copending application Serial No..466,023,filed-November 1,;1954, and assigned to the same, assignee as is thisinvention and now abandoned, in that it includes a pouring lip or pourer10,which comprises the invention of that application. 7 However, the

filler 11 illustrated has a substantially broader mouth than does thatof the aforementioned application. The container also includes-acase 12surrounding filler 11 and'a breast member 13 threaded into the upper endof v 135 overlying; an outwardly extending flange of pouring lip 10 tocasing 12 and having an inturned flange i 13 of the casing. For use withthe closures illustrated ,inQFigs. 1 and 2 particularly, the depth ofcup 25 is suchtthat the inner face of its bottom wall engages the V iclosure to assure that it is double-walled vacuuminsulat'ed inforcingsection. Th

, 11. As is illustrated clearly in Fig.

edge, received withinan undercut 21 just 'beneathythe openlupper end ofstopper portion '16.

p, A 'substantially. .cylindr'cal reinforcing section -22 is formedintegrally. with the bottom wall of stopper pop.

tion 1 6 'offstopper' 14gand extends therefrom toward insert 15,." 1 Itis of. sufficie'rit length sothat its outeredge'. or '-rin'rlis .oloselyadjacentto the inner face of the.insert. In'addition to rigidiz'ing'thebottom wall of stopperpor tion 16 of the closure, thereby making itbetter" able to. resist deformation as a result of pressures built upwithin the filler 11 primarily as a result of the storing therein of hotmaterials, it also limits the deformation thereof by engaging insert 15which as'shown is of rela:

tively heavy section. Hence, upon a pressure build-up within filler 11the bottom wall of stopper 14 of the closure may tend to deformupwardly. However, this 7 deformation is terminated upon engagement ofreinforcing section'22 with insert 15, thereby preventing a rupture ofthe seal between the side wall of the hollow 16 and the upper edge orrim of filler stopper portion 1,.for example, a predetermineddeformation of the bottom wall is accornmodated by the spacing betweenthe end of the reinforcing section and the lower surface of the insert;that the extent of defor-- I It will'be observed, however, mationpermitted is less than the edge-to-center depth of therconvex bottomwall. Accordingly, the permissible deformation of the bottom wall isless than that amount whichwould cause the bottom'wall to assume aconcave form. ,As illustrated in Fig. 1 the closure may be filled orpartially filled with an insulating material such as ground cork or thelike to' minimize a heat exchange through the closure. V

The container also includes a cup .25 provided with threads at its monthwhich may be removably secured over-the closure byengagement of itsthreads with corresponding threads formed externally on breast, memberfirmly maintained in position despite the tendency of the pressurewithin the filler to force the closureout.

" Turning now to Fig. 2, a according to my invention is Fig.1 exceptthat; a reinforcing section 22 integral with insert 15'.

is formed reinforcing section 22' again is Patented sta 12, 1960 j theseek er modified form of closure illustrated which in'substantially allrespects is similar to the formillustrated in and'stopper 14 contains noretionfl18' of flange 17 it is similar in all respects to the stopper'ofeither Fig. 1 or Fig. 2. The reentrant angle extension 30, however,makes it readily possible and easy to snap the depending portion 18 overan outwardly ex-' tending circumferential flange of the permanent fillerassembly, for example, rounded flange 19 of a pouring lip which isotherwise similar to pouring lip 10 of Fig. 1. The flange 19' thusenters the undercut of depending portion 18' of the stopper and securesthe latter properly positioned on the filler neck with its stopperportion 16 entering the mouth thereof and engaging the upper rim portionof its inner Wall.

I claim:

1. An insulating closure for the open mouth of a container, such as adouble-walled vacuum-insulated filler, comprising a hollow, generallycup-shaped unitary stopper body formed of resilient material and havinga generally conical side wall and a convex bottom wall, said stopperbody having an open upper end, a closure insert secured to said stopperbody and extending across the upper end thereof to enclose the hollowinterior of said body and'form a hollow insulating space therein, and asubstantially hollow structural reinforcing section formed integrallywith one of said stopper body and insert parts and extendingaxiallytoward the other part, said reinforcing section comprising a wallspaced substantially outward from the center of said stopper body andsubstantially inward from the side wall thereof, the axial end of saidreinforcing section terminating a predetermined distance short of saidother part, whereby the end of said reinforcing section is positioned toengage the said other part upon predetermined deformation of said bottomwall, said predetermined deformation being less than that amount whichwould cause said bottom wall to assume a concave form.

2. A closure according to claim 1, in which said insert has'an outwardlyextending peripheral bead and said stopper slide wall has an annularundercut just beneath the upper end thereof to receive said insert bead.

3. A closure according to claim 1 in which the substantially hollowreinforcing section is a cylindrical wall and extends from and isintegral with the bottom wall of said stopper body, said reinforcingsection having a length less by a predetermined amount than the distancebetween the inner faces of the insert and bottom wall.

-References' Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,425,841

